Thread: Bengall's Band of Brothers

I posted in the show and tell page about my first bengall and now I have found this page so I thought I'd put it here to

all my Bengalls....here

Originally Posted by strawinski

all my Bengalls....here

that should read "virtually all the stub tail Bengall razors are here"
Congrats on such a great collection.

So I caught this little beauty on the bay, wasn't the bargain basement price that some of the razors on here were had for, but I'm not too fussed about that.
It's still only a fraction of the cost of my Dovo that I bought new and I wanted a second razor to have a rotation.
Seems to me the "Bengall Imperial" model is pretty specific, even within a specialty like Bengalls overall, like everyone else I guess, I wonder about when it was made, the history of it, this will be my first vintage straight, so I'm more than a little excited.
By the looks of the photo (I don't have the razor yet) it will need very little work to bring it up to muster, perhaps a bit of a polish on the monkey tail, a bit of a hone, a strop and an overall clean down to kill off any germs that might be lurking in it from previous use.
Not many things stand up to Isopropyl alcohol and it's both metal and plastic (bakelite) friendly, I' thinking that will be my weapon of choice to clean it with.
I'm not over keen to pull it to bits in order to polish it and sand it either, not YET anyways so I thought in the meantime I might try an alternative or two, I was reading about a chap who had good results polishing scales with car polish of all things so it occurs to me that could work, I had considered toothpaste as well for it's mildly abrasive polishing qualities and overall non toxicity.
Anyone wants to walk me through the process of restoration so maybe one day I can end up with something resembling one of the gleaming beacons of tonsorial magnificence I've seen on here, I'm all ears.
Oh and when I actually have my razor in my hands, I'd be proud to join the band, assuming you'll have me and the initiation isn't TOO severe

Looks good Slicey. Welcome to the club in advance mate. Jimbo is in charge of the hazing of new recruits and he doesn't mind using the paddles so I've heard, but you'll be fine .


Mick

The Mother's worked great and they took to the hones perfectly. Currently two of the best in my rotation. Long Live The Bengalls!!

I just love the symetry of twins anyway but you have two Bengalls with plain blades and a matches set of white scales, doesn't get much better than that for mine
As gorgeous now as they were back in the days of Deco.

I've found a nice Cadmann

indeed you have, the design on the blade looks a bit deco inspired to me which COULD date it to the late 20's early 30's.
Part of the intrigue of Bengalls is that there don't seem to be good records of their catalogue so most of their models are pretty much guess work as far as date.

By Cadmann and sons in some kind of horn scales, took a mean edge (but was reluctant to take one and I had to re hone three times to get it good), Sheffield wedge when at it's best